Final Round

At last, the day had come. All of his friends turned out in full force. Yul with Jessica, Taeng with Tiffany, Yoong with Sunny and Young with Krystal. His co-workers turned up as well. His secretary, fellow financial analysts and even his boss turned up for the gala event.

The dance competition was far grander than he’d imagined, being held in one of the grandest ballrooms in the town’s classiest hotel and it did nothing to help allay his nerves. And if he wasn’t nervous enough, then the discovery of a filming crew on site definitely did it for him.

“Hyoyeonie! Why is there a camera?”

“Oh, part of this event will be broadcasted on television.”

“What?!” Hyun was shocked beyond words.

“Relax, they won’t film our segment. The whole thing is for charity and we’ve got celebrities dancing in some of the events so the crew is here to film them.”

“Oh…I see…” Hyun was immensely relieved. “That’s good to know.”

Hyoyeon giggled. “Don’t worry. Just enjoy yourself with me, okay?”

“Okay.”

Hyoyeon gave him a big hug and a kiss and Hyun was finally able to smile again.

~~~~~

“Oh beautiful! We’re beginning to see a baby bump! Mrs. Kwon, how far along is your pregnancy?” asked a reporter as his photographer snapped picture after picture of her and her handsome husband.

“I’m in my second trimester.”

“Oh…that’s great to hear! The worst must be over for you then. Second trimesters are the golden months during pregnancy.”

Jessica bit her tongue to stop herself from ranting about how untrue that statement was. Instead, she held Yul’s hand a little tighter and forced a radiant smile onto her beautiful face. The last thing she wanted was an ugly picture of her published in the papers tomorrow.

“With a husband as wonderful as Yul, every trimester is golden,” she replied.

“Mrs. Kwon, you surely are the envy of all the ladies in this ballroom tonight. You and your husband look like a match made in heaven.”

Jessica flashed a genuine smile at the lavish praise and but managed to say modestly, “I’m sure that every couple in this place is just as happy as we are. There is nothing for them to be envious about.”

“Well said, Mrs. Kwon. Well said.”

“Now, if you’ll excuse us. I need to sit down.”

“Oh, of course! Of course! Thank you for answering our questions!” said the reporter as he hastily retreated and left them alone.

As soon as they had more privacy, Yul chuckled and said, “I make all your trimesters golden, huh?”

Jessica pouted. “Don’t tease me.”

Yul chuckled again and squeezed her hand. “You forgot to say one thing though.”

“What?” Jessica blinked, wondering what she had forgotten to say.

“You forgot to tell them that you make all of my trimesters golden too.”

Jessica broke into a wide, dazzling smile but slapped his thigh hard as hard as she could, making him wince. “You’re horrible, Yul. I can smell sarcasm when I hear it.”

“You can smell sarcasm when you hear it?” Yul began laughing and Jessica wrinkled her nose, feeling more and more victimized.

“You know what I mean,” she huffed and turned away from him, pouting.

Yul laughed for a bit more before wrapping his arms around her, squeezing a little. She yelped when he squeezed her and shot him the same icy glare that he once found a little numbing.

“Baby, I love—”

Suddenly, Jessica gasped and palmed her protruding belly, cutting Yul off abruptly. What was that? She had felt something. Oh gosh. There it was again. She blinked, ignoring Yul completely as she tried to figure out what it was.

“Is there something wrong? Baby?” Yul’s voice was laced with worry as she gasped yet again.

Jessica looked at Yul, eyes shining with wonder when it finally hit her. “Yul,” she whispered, as though it was the world’s biggest secret, “our baby just moved or something.”

“Oh my gosh. Really?” he whispered back, his tone reverent.

“I felt like a flutter. Just a tiny little flutter.”

Yul said nothing more. He palmed her belly silently and held it there as she gazed at him with eyes of wonder. He was focused on her belly, obviously hoping to feel something too but the moment had passed.

“I can’t feel anything,” Yul reported to Jessica sadly, a hint of a pout hanging on his lips.

A pouting Yul was much too adorable for Jessica to resist and she found herself leaning towards him to plant a kiss on his pout.

“Remember, Doctor Han said that you won’t be able to feel it until maybe the third trimester. I only felt a tiny little flutter so I don’t think you can feel it from the outside. We’ll have to wait for our baby to grow a little bigger.”

Yul kissed her and hugged her deliciously, sharing her joy of feeling their baby’s first movement and she was glad that he was with her when it happened, even though he couldn’t feel it.

Just then, Taeng, Tiffany, Yoong and Sunny arrived. Unlike Yul and Jessica, they were held up by the reporters for a much longer time.

“My dear friends. Please. Get a room,” remarked Tiffany jovially and Jessica shrieked in excitement upon hearing her voice.

“Tif! Tif! I just felt my baby move! I just felt my baby move!” Jessica announced excitedly and Tiffany shrieked upon hearing the news too.

“Oh my gosh! Your baby moved! Kyaaa!” Tiffany bent and they hugged as though they hadn’t seen each other in years. “What did it feel like? Tell me!”

“I don’t know. It was just a tiny little flutter. Like barely there. But I felt it twice so I know that it’s not my imagination.”

“Oh Jessi! This is so exciting!”

“I know, right!”

Tiffany hugged Jessica as the guys started clapping Yul on his back and calling him Daddy. Yul laughed heartily, not minding the teasing and it wasn’t until an amplified voice announced that the event was about to begin that they finally settled down at their table.

~~~~~

The entire ballroom was full of people. Tables of ten surrounded the dance floor that was laid specially for the event and the dancers and celebrities were littered throughout the crowd. The first segment was the celebrity--professional dancer event where well-known and popular singers and actors or actresses took to the stage to dance with a professional dancer.

Some twenty celebrities were due to dance and the crowd had paid for a pricey ticket to watch the show. Of course, the proceeds would be donated to a foundation that supported youths in the art of dancing which was a very good cause indeed.

And it was only when the first two celebrities had danced that Jessica began wondering where her sister and Young were.

“Where did Young and my sister disappear to?” she asked Yul.

“I don’t know.”

Yul turned to Yoong and asked, “Yoong, where’s Young?”

Yoong cocked an eyebrow and shook his head. “No idea, bro. I last saw them fielding some questions from the reporters. Haven’t seen them since.”

Jessica frowned. The first thing that came to mind was the promise that Young made to their father that Krystal had told her about. Her frown deepened when she remembered that Krystal had only just confided in her this morning, about how she found it difficult to wait that long.

Surely…surely they weren’t up to no good somewhere in this place?! It wouldn’t be wise if they were. This place was crawling with reporters and the last thing they wanted was to be caught on camera in a compromising position. And her father certainly wouldn’t be pleased to find out either.

~~~~~

Krystal giggled. Young had just twirled about on his toes like a ballerina before stumbling and falling beside her.

“Hey. Stop giggling and help a fallen man.”

Krystal didn’t stop giggling but she extended her hand, offering it to him. Only, he had no intention of getting up. One quick yank later, she was lying on top of him, her giggles growing into laughter.

“Hey, you two. Stop messing up my kitchen,” a stern voice was heard and Krystal sprang up at once, embarrassed to be caught in a position like this. But the owner of the stern voice wore a smile on his face and Young merely laughed as he got off the floor.

The owner of the stern voice grinned and gave Young a bear hug, patting him vigorously on the back.

“Young, how are you lately?”

“Great. I’m doing just great. Anyway, I want to introduce my girlfriend to you.”

Young grabbed Krystal’s hand and pulled her to his side.

“Hyung, this is Krystal. Krys, this is Jonghyuk, my mentor.”

“Don’t call me your mentor. It makes me sound old.”

“But you are old!” Young laughed then groaned when Jonghyuk smacked the back of his head with his palm. “Oww! Hyung! That hurts! You haven’t lost your touch at all.”

Jonghyuk chuckled as he turned to Krystal. “Nice to meet you, Krystal.”

Krystal shook his hand and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you too. Young mentions you from time to time, so I’m happy to finally see you.”

Jonghyuk cocked an eyebrow and looked at Young. “Why are you talking about me when you’re with your girlfriend? Something must be wrong with you man.”

“Hey…hey…I talk about you because I respect you a lot. I mean, a guy who can walk away from riches to pursue his dreams is worth respecting.”

“Maybe I left your company because you were too hard to mentor. Have you ever thought about that?”

Young laughed and turned to Krystal. “See? I told you he’s a humble guy.” Then, he turned solemn and spoke seriously. “Hyung, I brought Krys to see you because you are the only one who kept telling me to stop playing around with girls. I know you told me all those things back then because you wanted my life to be better but I never did listen. So, I told myself that I have to introduce Krystal to you because she’s the one, hyung. She’s the one.”

“Finally. Serious about her, huh?”

“Very serious.”

“I’m very glad to hear that, Young.”

Jonghyuk gave Young another hug and smiled when they parted.

“When’s the happy day?”

“I haven’t proposed yet.”

“Oh, then do it soon. She’ll be snapped up quickly if you don’t hurry.”

“I won’t want anybody else but Young,” Krystal spoke suddenly. Then, she blushed deeply.

Jonghyuk laughed heartily at what she said and his eyes twinkled with glee when he patted Young on his shoulder. “You’re the luckiest man on earth, Young.”

Young grinned and nodded. “I know.”

“Well, then. Time for you two to get out of the kitchen and back to the event. I need to whip up the dishes you’ll be eating in a while.”

“Bye, hyung. We’ll see you at our wedding!” Young said cheekily, sneaking a peek at Krystal to see her blush.

Jonghyuk laughed again. “I’ll be there. I’ll even be your chef!”

“I can’t afford to pay a world-class chef like you!”

“I’ll be your chef, F.O.C.!”

“Oh my gawd! You said it, hyung! I’ll hold you to that when the time comes! Bye!”

~~~~~

Hyun and Hyoyeon were just about to leave to prepare for their item when Young and Krystal finally appeared at the table, giggly and all.

“Where did you two disappear to?” Jessica asked Krystal the moment her sister sat down beside her.

Krystal giggled. “Young brought me to meet someone.”

“Meet someone? In this place?”

Krystal nodded. “Yup.”

“So you two weren’t…” Jessica trailed off, narrowing her eyes at Krystal who caught on to what she was asking instantly.

“No,” Krystal replied quickly. “Of course not. We promised each other that we’ll wait and we will.”

“Good. That’s a relief. The last thing I want to see is a picture of the two of you making out on the front page.”

“Unnie!”

And Jessica giggled at her blushing sister. Her dear sister had miles to run before she could catch up with her.

~~~~~

“This ballroom is beautiful, isn’t it, Taeng?”

“Yes, it is.”

Tiffany smiled and leaned against Taeng as they watched the celebrities dancing away on the dance floor. Her fingers played with his and his, with hers as their eyes followed the dancers. They marvelled and admired and applauded as dancer after dancer completed their dance and bowed.

As yet another pair of dancers walked off the dance floor, Tiffany suddenly had a vision of her walking down the aisle to Taeng, with guests standing, applauding and cheering for their union. And without much thought, she found herself blurting, “Wouldn’t this be a lovely place for us to be married in?”

Taeng turned to her, the look of surprise evident on his face. “Here?”

“Mhmm. Wouldn’t it be nice?”

Then, it was Tiffany’s turn to be surprised when Taeng replied almost immediately. “What about a poolside wedding?”

“A poolside wedding?”

“Mhmm.”

Tiffany thought about it. She hadn’t expected Taeng to have something like that in mind but she liked the idea. “How long have you had this idea?”

“Ever since you said yes to my proposal,” Taeng answered with a shy smile. “And ever since we agreed on marrying a year later…I’ve been…planning…”

Tiffany was immensely touched. Where in the world was she to find another man who would plan so many things for her? He planned their dates, their recent anniversary date not the mention the simple but heart-warming birthday dinner in her own home with her father and now…to learn that he had been planning for their wedding all this time!

“Taetae…” Tiffany breathed, “you’re the sweetest man any woman could dream of having.”

Taeng looked pleased and rather proud of himself and Tiffany couldn’t resist kissing him right there and then. Ever since she met him, she’d been throwing caution to the wind but it was something that she relished. She loved how he made her wild. She loved how he was so irresistible to her. She loved it all. But most importantly, she loved him with all her heart and he loved her right back with his.

~~~~~

“Bunny, I think we should learn the rumba,” Yoong whispered in Sunny’s ear after watching the first pair of teacher-student dancers on the floor. “It’s a good dance for us to try.”

“All you want is to put your hands all over me, am I right? Or am I right.” Sunny rolled her eyes with a knowing lopsided smile.

“Hey, I’m not always thinking about that alright. Hyun said it’s a love dance so we should learn it because we’re in love.”

“I’d rather be a Care bear than a dancer if you ask me.”

“Really? You’re rather be a Care bear?”

“Mhmm.” Sunny nodded with a naughty smile. “I like the part where we take off our suits best.”

Yoong’s eyes widened at her innuendo and he grinned. There was nothing he liked better than bantering with his bunny. “You can be Sunny bear the next time then.”

“Sunny bear? There’s actually a Sunny bear out there? Or did you make it up.”

Yoong grinned wider than ever. “Sunny bear is Yoongie bear’s girlfriend.”

Sunny giggled. “Why can’t a bear have a bunny girlfriend? I’d rather be a bunny if that’s the case.”

“Sunny bunny…mmm…I like you as a bunny a lot too.”

“I still have the outfit. Complete with the tail.” Sunny giggled again, looking cheekier than ever.

Yoong put his arm around Sunny and held her close to him. “Yoongie bear and Sunny bunny. Together forever.”

Sunny smiled up at him. “I like the sound of that. Very much.” And she put her head on his shoulder comfortably, cuddling close to him, smiling blissfully.

~~~~~

Hyoyeon held Hyun’s hand as they stood backstage and squeezed it to give him her assurance that everything was going to be okay. He certainly looked like he needed it—his face was paling by the second.

“Remember, whatever happens, just keep dancing with me.”

Hyun smiled weakly but nodded nonetheless.

“You’ll be okay, Hyun.”

“Hyoyeon! You’re up!” a stage crew yelled for them.

It was their turn.

~~~~~

Hyoyeon allowed herself to be led out by Hyun. The male had to be a leader. He had to take the reins, she had told him. And he seemed to be a little different as he led her out. His eyes were focused, jaw set and determined. He was perhaps, going into the ‘achieving’ mode that he had on whenever he was at work. She didn’t mind. It was probably a good thing.

He twirled her and she spun away from him. Then, he bowed and she curtsied as they were introduced by the hosts before taking their beginning positions. The music came on and her heart leapt to the beat. Dancing came naturally to her. If dancing were like water, then she was a fish, swimming freely, fluidly, gracefully.

Hyun however, wasn’t quite like fish in water. He looked more like a little boy learning how to swim which was fine by her because that’s exactly what he was.

She spun back to him and his arms wrapped around her as their hips hit the classic Rumba side-to-side sways as their footwork brought them forward, towards the judges. Their arms moved together and she could feel the difference in him. If only for those few moments on the dance floor, he had become her man, leading her, loving her in the way only he could.

Their eyes met, sparks flying, as they dazzled each other with the look of love and she pushed him away, reaching the part of the choreography where she had to be held and lowered by him after spinning all the way back to him. It was the most difficult part of the dance but also the highlight.

Her heart thumped as she began spinning towards him. Please don’t drop me. Please don’t drop me. But even if you do, please don’t stop dancing!

She reached him and he caught her, wrapped his arm around her and lowered her but it seemed as though her spins were too powerful for him and he dropped her just inches from the ground. She bit her lip, suppressing the groan that had almost escaped and was about to urge him to continue dancing when he did something totally out of the ordinary—he kissed her.

Her eyes were this close to popping out from their sockets. Her lungs froze, render incapable of inhaling or exhaling air and her heart stopped for what felt like eternity. Her mind lost all senses and awareness of who or where she was. All she knew was this: Hyun was kissing her and it was the most romantic kiss in the world.

But the next thing she knew, his lips were gone and the crowd was roaring as he lifted her up in his arms. She blinked, not quite getting it but when he flexed his knees and set her back on her feet it was to the beat and she knew there and then that he had done exactly what she asked him to do, only better. He had improvised!

Without missing a beat, she spun again and entered the last bit of choreography with him in the lead. He seemed to be stable, confident even, for the smile on his face belonged to that of a man who had found something he’d been looking for. And when they finally finished their dance, she was breathing harder than ever before from sheer exhilaration. He bowed and she curtsied, then, she linked her arm with his and allowed him to lead her off the dance floor amidst the loudest cheers and applause of the night.

~~~~~

“OH MY GAWD! THAT’S MY BUDDY OVER THERE! THAT’S MY BUDDY!!!” Young and Yoong yelled as Hyun and Hyoyeon left the dance floor and returned to their table.

“Hyun! You’re the bomb man!”

“Dude! That kiss was hot!”

Hyun blushed and smile shyly, all traces of the leader that he was on the dance floor, gone. But Hyoyeon couldn’t let go of him. She clung on to his arm, looking happy and dazed as cheers and praises for their dance came from everywhere.

“That was a great dance, Hyun,” said Yul with a smile as Hyun took his seat after ensuring that Hyoyeon was seated properly. “Hyoyeon, you’re a really great teacher.”

“I can’t take credit for what he did. It was him. All him.”

“The two of you looked so good on the dance floor, Hyo,” chirped Sunny as she gave Hyoyeon a hug. “Hyun, you were awesome. Really awesome. I think I want Yoong to learn the Rumba now.”

“Hey, you’re the one who said that you’d rather be a bu—oww,” Yoong’s speech ended in a groan, his pain inflicted by Sunny’s heel on his foot.

“Anyway, Yoong is very proud of you, Hyun. He kept oohing and aahing while the two of you danced. And he kept marveling at how well you did out there,” Sunny continued with a bright smile.

“Thanks, you guys. We’ll have to wait to know the results but I’m very happy with how we did and that’s enough for me,” Hyoyeon declared. “In my heart, Hyun is my ideal dance partner.”

“You’re my ideal dance teacher and partner too, Hyoyeonie.”

Hyoyeon flashed a loving smile at him and he smiled right back at her, the two of them momentarily forgetting where and who they were yet again.

~~~~~

Eunhyuk and Dana took to the stage after they did but they weren’t paying attention to any of it—they were too busy drowning in each other’s happiness. And when the results were finally announced, neither of them felt overly concerned with it either.

But their names were announced, loud and clear through the sound amplifiers and they stood up, clueless about what they had won until Sunny gave Hyoyeon a push.

“This couple truly understands the give and take that is required of partnership dancing. They enchanted the judges with the way their eyes made contact and the way they danced together, sharing their energy as one. And of course, my personal favourite moment, and no doubt, everybody else’s as well…the smoking hot kiss made that dance the ultimate love dance. The male role so strongly represented by Mr. Seo and the female role so gracefully displayed by Miss Kim. We are proud to present the top position to you.”

Hyun could hardly believe it as he led Hyoyeon out onto the dance floor and calmly accepted the trophy. His friends cheered the loudest when they raised the trophy in their direction and hugged each other tightly. It was their moment. Their awesome moment.

~~~~~

“To Hyun and Hyoyeon, may you dance together happily ever after!!!” Young yelled a toast after the winning couple returned to their table.

“And to all the rest of us…may we have our happily ever after too!!!” Yoong yelled and everyone raised their glasses of wine (juice for Jessica) to concur and their glasses met with a resounding clink as they echoed his toast.

“Happily ever after!”

~~~~~

Thanks for reading, dear friends :) There will be an epilogue to wrap things up. See you soon =^^=